Open Your Heart
by Frangelicah
Summary: What happens when Ginny writes a secret love letter to Harry and through unfortunate mishaps, it ends up in Harry's hands. This is my first attempt at fanfiction, so it's not that great. Please review.
1. Default Chapter

OPEN YOUR HEART – BY FRANGELICAH

OPEN YOUR HEART – BY FRANGELICAH

Authors note: This fic was inspired by Madonna's song "Open your heart", written by Madonna, Gardner Cole, and Peter Rafelson, from the 1986 "True Blue" album.

_ _

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling etc.

_I see you on the street and you walk on by_

_You make me wanna hang my head down and cry_

_If you gave me half the chance you'd see_

_My desire burning inside of me_

_But you choose to look the other way_

_I've had to work much harder than this_

For something I want don't try to resist me 

_ _

_Chorus_

_Open your heart to me, baby_

_I hold the lock and you hold the key_

_Open your heart to me, darlin'_

_I'll give you love if you, you turn the key_

_ _

_I think that you're afraid to look in my eyes_

_You look a little sad boy, I wonder why_

_I follow you around but you can't see_

_You're too wrapped up in yourself to notice_

_So you choose to look the other way_

_Well I've got something to say_

_Don't try to run I can keep up with you_

_Nothing can stop me from trying, you've got to (Chorus)_

_ _

PART 1: THE LOVE LETTER

Ginny Weasley watched Harry, Hermione and Ron conversing in low tones in the Weasley family room. It was Harry's second week at the Burrow, as Dumbledore finally allowed him to spend the rest of his holidays there. In some ways, it was exciting to see Harry there so close to her, sleeping in the same room just above hers. In Ginny's young life, it was heaven. She always looked forward to the summer holidays, since it meant she would be in such close proximity to Harry. However, in other ways it was also heart-braking, for even if Harry was so close he was always distant with her. _How ironic_, she thought.

The last year for Harry had had an adverse effect on him. Since the rebirth of the Dark Lord, Ginny (and other people around her) had noticed a definite downswing in Harry's mood. It rubbed off on the people around him like a disease. It affected Ginny the worst, for unlike her brother Ron and Hermione, they were able to sit with him and comfort him. But for Ginny it was none of that. She longed to put her arm around him and tell him it'd be all right. To able to confide in him about her fears, and to be there when he needed her. _But no, he's Harry Potter. People will always be waiting on him hand and foot, whenever he needed them. Why would he need someone like me? _She thought bitterly.

She continued to spy on the three friends from the landing on the stairs, hidden from view until her mother called loudly out for her.

"Ginny! Help me set the table for lunch!."

The sound of Mrs. Weasley's voice caught the attention of Harry, Ron and Hermione, and all three instinctively snapped their heads in Ginny's direction. They spotted her at once. Blushing profusely, Ginny mumbled "coming Mom" in reply and hastily dashed out of their view. Ron and Hermione watched her with amused eyes, but Harry looked away of. In Ginny's opinion, nothing much had really amused him since he came to the Burrow. _Which is just as well_, thought Ginny glumly. She was prone to embarrassing herself when Harry was around.

**

During lunch, in which Harry ate his food with a subdued look, Ginny observed him out of the corner of her eye. George noticed her sidelong glances and gave her a wink. Ron noticed it, and asked in a curious voice, "What're you winking at Ginny for, George?". Ginny almost choked on her sausage and stared determinedly at her plate. 

"Oh just something in my eye. The wind I think," replied George in an amused tone, trying to keep his face straight. 

Ginny quickly looked at Harry out of impulse, curious as to whether he noticed anything, and was startled to find his eyes fixed on her. She quickly looked away, her face flushing as red as her hair. _Why do I have to blush now??_

She always gave herself away like this. Vaguely, she heard someone snort into their plate.

"You alright, Fred?" asked a concerned Mrs Weasley

"Yeah…just choking Mom."

"That's not something you should be joking about, Fred!"

Having had enough of her brothers' taunts, Ginny excused herself from the table and went straight up to her room.

She had no idea what she was going to do in there, but it was better than being in the same room as her brothers. It always embarrassed her by the fact that they obviously knew of her infatuation with Harry. Try as she might to hide and deny it, her brothers never bought it. _I must be that obvious_, Ginny thought miserably. She'd had to endure her brothers' taunts about Harry ever since the first day she saw him. She was teased mercilessly about it, but since Harry had rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets, the taunts had decreased. Probably from the insistence of their mother, who knew of Ginny's ordeal and therefore wanted to protect her. Nevertheless, Mrs. Weasley's scolding hadn't quelled her brothers' jokes. They still did it, even if only subtly. It still hurt and angered her though. What hurt more than their jokes was Harry's blindness to her existence.

Sighing, Ginny picked up her quill and parchment. Since she had no close friends to confide in, she often turned to writing to sort out her frustrations. She supposed she could always go to Hermione for advice, since she already knew of her Harry obsession – but Hermione was too close to Harry to really talk about this stuff with her. Hermione would probably understand, but since she had problems of her own, Ginny thought it best not to burden her any more with her own petty problems.

Ginny stared at the blank piece of parchment, thinking what to write. She had not kept a diary since she was 11. The events leading up to her Chamber of Secrets ordeal too fresh in her mind, giving her phobias of diaries in general. As a result, she had often turned to writing her feelings down on parchment – as a form of "therapy" her mother had called it – and burned it up pronto. The thought of anyone (especially Fred and George) finding a piece of parchment with _HarryHarryHarry_ scribbled all over it gave her nausea.

_ _

_Dear Harry_, Ginny began, but paused. How can anyone write down what they've been feeling for someone they've liked for years?It was so complex and so confusing, that Ginny found it difficult to begin. Well _Dear Harry_ was at least more intelligent than _HarryHarryHarry._ For the past two years that was all she could write since the word **_Harry_** was pretty much self-explanatory. But this time Ginny was resolved to actually _write_ something more intelligent than a single name scrawled ten million times. Ginny took a deep breath and wrote –

_Dear Harry,_

__

_I don't exactly know how to put in words how I feel about you, but ever since I first saw you, I had wanted you._

_ _

That sounds a bit corny, Ginny thought with a grin, but continued anyway:

What I really mean to say is (clichés aside, because I didn't really know a better way of opening the letter) that I have feelings for you, and I have felt this way for so long. I don't know why I feel this way, but I can't help it. I'm too chicken to say it to your face, so I'll have to make do with writing it. Besides, you won't know what I've written since I'll be burning this up straight away. For all anyone cares, I could be writing that I have sexual fantasies of you every night, and no one will be any the wiser. Not that I do.

_But seriously, I know I'm just Ron's little sister to you, but there's nothing wrong in dreaming that one day I could be more than that._

_ _

_Love,_

_Ginny._

_ _

Just when Ginny finished looping the 'y' in her name, there was a soft knock on the door. Hastily shoving the parchment in her robe, she uttered a quick "come in" and slightly blushed when Hermione poked her head in.

"Hey Ginny," she said brightly, "mind if I come in?"

"No. Please do."

Hermione shut the door behind her and sat down on Ginny's bed. Ginny turned her swivel chair to face Hermione.

"I just want to know if there's anything bothering you Gin," she said softly.

"Nothing's bothering me," Ginny lied.

"Well you know that if you want to talk, I'll always be here" the older girl replied in a sisterly tone.

Ginny had never had anyone to look up to as a sister, and having Hermione there somehow made her feel better. 

"Well – " she began. Immediately the colour in her cheeks returned. Thinking of Harry always made her feel this way. Like a massive git. She supposed she probably looked like one too, though Hermione looked at her expectantly, not seeming to have noticed anything.

"Well it's like this –" Ginny paused a second time. Even if Hermione knew about her Harry obsession, she still felt funny about mentioning his name. Plus the fact that he was in the same house with her made her feel even more uneasier talking about him. She decided on a different course of action.

"Hermione" she said, "say there was a boy who you really like and er…" she waited, looking at Hermione for some sort of reaction, but there was none. "And er…he doesn't really know you exist. Or well, he doesn't take much notice of you. I mean, you want him to know how you feel, but you don't know how to. What would you do?"

There was a short silence, in which Hermione stared at her looking thoughtful.

"Harry." It wasn't a question, because Hermione already knew.

"Just be a friend to him. Mom always said that the best romances always start with friendship."

"Er…right," said Ginny. She thought about the times when she and Harry were in the same room and she wasn't able to say a coherent sentence. "How do I do that?" as soon as the words left her mouth, Ginny felt like an idiot. _What a stupid question_. But Hermione understood.

"Just be yourself," she said, "you're a beautiful, intelligent and funny girl Gin. If anyone knows how to be those things, it's you."

Ginny laughed dryly, "Yeah, I'm funny alright. I make people laugh without even trying."

"You know what I mean," Hermione said, trying to scowl but not succeeding.

The sound of Ron's voice calling Hermione downstairs interrupted their conversation. Ginny watched Hermione get up and cross to the door. Before she opened it she turned to Ginny and said, "don't be afraid to show him who you are". Then she left.

Ginny sighed. Hermione's advice made sense. She's known Harry for years, but she doesn't really _know _him. Though she's said a few things to him like "hi" and "goodbye", she hadn't really had a proper conversation with him. Harry had dozens of admirers who behaved in either the way that she did (going red and being clumsy), or in the way the Creevey brothers did - "Harry! Harry! Harry!." Enough said. Of course Harry's not going to notice her. To Harry, she was probably just another one of dozens of girls who have an insufferable crush on him. Heaving another sigh, Ginny got up and began to pack her bags. Tomorrow they were going to catch the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and three quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

PART 2: THE NOT-SO-GREAT DAY

PART 2: THE NOT-SO-GREAT DAY

Ginny and Hermione stayed up late the night before, talking about boys. Though Hermione never _expressly _stated it, Ginny knew she was complaining about her brother Ron, who was _still_ giving Hermione a hard time about Victor Krum. Ginny could see that Hermione and Ron fancied each other, though both of them, especially Ron, were unwilling to admit it. Ginny herself was unwilling to have lengthy discussions on Harry; not that she had much choice, since Hermione kept bringing him up in their conversation just for her benefit. 

Talking about Harry had reminded Ginny about the letter she had written to him earlier. It was still in the pocket of her robe, which was slung over the chair by her table. She couldn't get it out now and burn it, for fear that Hermione would see what was inside it, and so she made a mental note to destroy it that day.

Ginny had no chance to be alone that day, however. People thundering up and down the stairs and barging in and out of each other's rooms, looking for items they had forgotten to pack, threw the Weasley household in turmoil. Ron had barged into Ginny's room three times already, looking for his Chudley Cannons hat and arguing with Hermione.

"I know it's in here somewhere Gin," he said angrily, with bits of toast around his mouth.

"Ron, why would your stupid hat be in my room?"

"Because _Hermione_ probably hid it, to get back at me for yesterday, didn't you?" he said accusingly to Hermione.

"Ron, if I'd wanted to get back at you, I would've come up with something more clever than just hiding a dumb hat!" shrieked Hermione

"That hat is not dumb!" said Ron indignantly, "and besides I don't know why you're so mad, when I was just telling the truth about Vicky!"

"Don't call him Vicky. How many times do I have to tell you that, _Ronald_!"

"Don't call me Ronald!"

"Now you know how I feel when you call him Vicky!"

Ginny got so fed up with Ron's and Hermione's sniping that she made her way downstairs for breakfast, slamming her bedroom door behind her as she went. Not that they had noticed anything. Their shouts could still be heard even from down the hall.

On her way past Ron's room Ginny ran into Harry, who had also heard the arguments, and rolled his eye skywards. 

"Yeah I know!" Ginny giggled. 

They made their way down to the kitchen, where they were greeted by Mrs. Weasley. "What's going on up there?" she asked

"Don't worry Mom, they're always like that…" replied Ginny exasperatedly. 

She sat down at her table and started on her porridge, followed by Harry, while Mrs. Weasley went upstairs to check on Ron and Hermione. 

It was only Ginny and Harry in the kitchen, as Fred and George were still up in their room packing. It was a tense moment, as neither looked at each other, both pretending to he immensely interested in their porridge. It was Harry who broke the uncomfortable silence first.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do with those two" he sighed, "can you imagine, I have to be stuck with them arguing over Vicky for another year!"

Ginny was chewing on a mouthful of porridge and as Harry said this, she laughed, and bits of porridge came out of her mouth. A chunk landed near Harry's hand. Horrified, Ginny looked at Harry wide eyed and began apologizing profusely, blushing up to her hairline. To her surprise, Harry laughed good-naturedly and said "Nah, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't've made you laugh, you could've choked!"

"I'm sorry." Ginny repeated

"Forget it" Harry grinned, "at least it didn't come out of your nose. Do you know, one time Dudley was drinking his milk in front of the television and he laughed at something funny, and milk came out of his nose and back into his glass? And you know what?"

"What?" Ginny asked curiously, forgetting her earlier embarrassment

"He drank the milk! With his bogies and all floating in it! The git."

"Gross" Ginny giggled. Suddenly the air between them didn't seem so tense anymore, and both of them burst out laughing. Ginny took the opportunity then to wipe her mess with a tissue. As she did so she accidentally brushed Harry's hand, and the sensation sent bolts of electricity through her body – or what she thought bolts of electricity would feel like. Harry didn't seem to notice. 

Seconds later Mrs. Weasley's shouts could be heard upstairs and both inclined their heads in the direction of the staircase to listen. Mrs. Weasley appeared to be telling Fred and George off for something, and moments later, Ginny and Harry knew why.

"Why did you hide your brother's hat Fred?"

"It was only a joke Mom."

"We were gonna experiment with it for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes"

"WHAT?" 

"Only joking ha ha."

"Some people just can't take a joke."

"Some people are trying to pack, George!" hollered Ron

"And some people shouldn't be accusing others of taking his things!" Hermione's voice had joined the commotion, and didn't stop there. "Secondly, some people should just forget about a certain boy called Victor!"

"ENOUGH!" Mrs. Weasley's voice spoke above the others, and there was quiet.

"Fred, George, apologize to Ron and give his hat back. Ron, apologize to Hermione."

Silence.

"Now!"

Ginny and Harry burst out laughing again as they heard sarcastic apologies being uttered upstairs, and several doors banging. For another brief moment Ginny and Harry locked eyes again, and this time she didn't look away. She still blushed though.

"Nice way to end the holidays huh?" she asked, grinning at Harry. Harry nodded and grinned back, and Ginny felt the familiar shock of electricity go through her.

Mrs. Weasley trudged into the kitchen looking bad tempered and her nostrils flaring.

"You two – quickly finish your breakfast and your packing, we're leaving in five minutes."

Ginny and Harry quickly shovelled the last spoonfuls of porridge into their mouths and left the kitchen. 

Ginny had to knock on her own door and when she heard a muffled, irritated "Come in!" she approached cautiously. She knew Hermione, after just arguing with Ron, would be in a foul mood, and so she quickly stuffed the last of her belongings in her trunk, straightened up her room, and followed Hermione out the door. 

The hallway was jammed with the twins, Ron and Harry heaving their heavy trunks towards the stairs. Ginny and Hermione had to jostle past her brothers to get some space, while Pig and Hedwig kept making annoying screechy noises. Ron kept hollering at Pig to settle down, cursing and mumbling under his breath, while Hermione kept making impatient "tut tut" noises. It had been a lousy morning, and Ginny couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts, where she could at least get away from these people until their tempers cooled.

**

If Ginny had wanted to get away from her brothers, the chance came when they got on the Hogwarts Express, though she didn't particularly like the way it happened.

Hermione had asked her to sit with them in the train, and it had been a pleasant ride, until Ron mentioned something about a "Snuffles" and the three of them lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Ron's eyes darted uncomfortably from Harry to Hermione, then to Ginny. Hermione's eyes were darting from Ron to Harry, but she avoided Ginny's eyes and looked out the window. Ginny did see her kick Ron's leg though, in what Hermione thought was a discreet way. When Ginny looked over at Harry, she found him staring at her. He quickly looked away, his cheeks reddening. Ginny sensed that "Snuffles" must be something secret between them, and she immediately got up and left. For the rest of the journey she sat with the Creevey brothers, and Tanya Green and Cissy Hemlock, her dorm mates. It had been an awful day, and Ginny's mood became progressively worse as evening approached.


	3. Chapter 3

PART 3: MALFOY

PART 3:MALFOY

When she got off the Hogwarts Express, she cast a glance at Harry, Ron and Hermione's way and saw that they were still absorbed in their private conversation. She ended up sharing a carriage with Colin Creevey on the way to Hogwarts, who kept blabbing on excitedly about everything under the sun. Ginny only half-listened, his enthusiasm totally uninfectious. 

During the start-of-term feast her mood was further dampened by the sight of Draco Malfoy from across the hall, grinning and joking with his friends Crabbe and Goyle, probably dreaming up plans to annoy Harry for the coming year. Her suspicions were confirmed when, after the feast had ended and the students were filing out of the Great Hall and into common rooms to bed, she saw Draco slither over to Harry and she heard him say "Have a nice summer with the Muggles, Potter?" under his breath.

"Sod off Malfoy" Harry replied automatically, being so used to Draco's taunts. Ron whipped out his wand threateningly.

"Because it might be your last summer with them, if you know what I mean."

"What… you're gonna turn the Dursleys into bugs? You'd just be doing me a favor. Not something you'd wanna do, is it?"

"My father knows about the hexes you put on us last year Potter, so I'd watch it if I were you." His eyes didn't look amused all of a sudden, and Crabbe and Goyle leered threateningly behind him.

"Thank God you're not me - you and your father can go to hell." 

Ginny was surprised to hear Harry talk this way, but then she didn't blame him, after his experience with the death eaters. Malfoy's eyes narrowed, and he said in a low voice, 

"Those hexes are nothing compared to what my father can do to you. So if anybody's going to hell, it certainly wont be me".

The words came out so maliciously that Ginny felt anger clouding her eyes. She turned to him and said, "You're nothing but a stinking coward Malfoy. You're only confident when you have your fat and ugly friends leering behind you and your evil father to protect you."

Malfoy's cheeks burned, and he eyed Ginny with pure hatred.

"You watch your mouth, you little brat!" he spat, "or I'll show you how _very_ much like my father I can be!" And he stalked off. 

Ron pointed his wand at him and was about to hex him on the spot. Hermione only just prevented him from doing any damage. She dragged a red-faced, seething Ron up the marble staircase, but Harry didn't follow. He was looking at Ginny with his mouth gaping open, and then he blinked and stood on the spot rigid, looking at the space where Malfoy had disappeared. Ginny walked cautiously towards him, wondering whether she should say something. Instinctively she reached out to touch Harry's arm, and he was pulled out of his reverie and turned to stare at her.

"Don't let him get to you Harry," she said softly. Harry looked deep into her eyes and opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. Ginny could see his jaw muscles tensing and relaxing, and could tell that he was fighting whatever it is that was welling up inside him. 

"He's not worth it," she added.

"Yeah" Harry said finally, then grinned, "You tell him Ginny!" then he walked up the staircase without another word.

Ginny trudged up behind him, lost in a flurry of thoughts. Harry doesn't need all this, she thought furiously to herself. _He's had enough already_.

Just as she was thinking up 101 ways of killing Malfoy (none of which she would _ever_ try, of course, but in Ginny's philosophy, it didn't hurt to dream) she suddenly remembered the letter she had written Harry, the one she never got to burn. She quickly searched her pockets, feeling around for the piece of parchment. Feeling nothing, she had a moment's panic before she remembered she was wearing her school robes. The letter was in the pockets of her other robe, the one she had hastily stuffed in her trunk before they left the Burrow. Feeling somewhat relieved, Ginny raced up into the Fourth Year Girls' dorms and scanned the room for her trunk (the trunks had been magicked there earlier). When she spotted it, she quickly opened it, took out her robes from the previous day, and felt its pockets. Sighing with relief, Ginny took out the parchment and was about to burn it when Tanya and Cissy burst into the room.


	4. Chapter 4

PART 4: LAUNDRY SERVICE

PART 4: LAUNDRY SERVICE

Ginny quickly stuffed the parchment in her school robes. Seeing the ashen look on Ginny's face, Tanya looked at her and asked with concern, "You OK, Gin?"

"Yes. Yes, fine thanks." Ginny knew she didn't look remotely convincing, and Tanya knew better to ask. Ginny Weasley had never confided her secrets to anyone, especially not her dorm mates, though she supposed they could guess some of it. Tanya just shrugged. Cissy though, smiled with a knowing look on her face, and said,

"Must be about a boy. I saw a letter in your hand you know."

Tanya suddenly looked interested. "Ooh, is it a love letter?" she asked with wide eyes.

"No, it is not a love letter, and it's not about Harry." Ginny suddenly realized she had said aloud the name of the person who had been at the forefront of her mind all day. She mentally gave herself a kick, and pretended at once to be straightening her bed, which of course didn't need any more straightening. Tanya and Cissy giggled in an annoyingly singsong fashion, changed into their pajamas and got into bed. Before Tanya shut her bed hangings though, she turned to Ginny and said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "Sweet dreams, Ginny!" and let out another giggle. It was lucky the hangings on Tanya's bed were so thick, otherwise she would have seen Ginny stick a rude finger up at her.

Ginny changed into her own pajamas and got into bed, planning on burning the letter later on, when the girls were asleep, or else she'd be teased silly again. She laid her school robes on top of her trunk, shut one side of her hangings (just in case Tanya and Cissy peered out from theirs and saw her) and got out the article with a picture of Harry she'd kept from last year – the one written by Rita Skeeter. He looked particularly handsome in this one, Ginny mused to herself. 

She had been so absorbed in thinking of ways of talking to Harry (without making a fool of herself) that she didn't notice a Hogwarts elf pad softly into their dorm to collect the dirty robes. Ginny, thinking it was Tanya or Cissy going to torture her again about Harry, peered from around the bed ready to defend herself, and saw instead an elf walking towards the door. She noticed that it was holding a pile of clothes. _Laundry service_, thought Ginny, and she shrugged, and was about to resume looking at Harry's picture when her eyes traveled to her trunk. Her school robes had gone. The letter was in it. Horror struck, Ginny leapt out of bed and, forgetting about the Harry newspaper clipping, chased after the elf. She ran out the door, ran down the stairs leading to the common room, and had just reached the common room when she saw the back of the portrait of the Fat Lady swing shut. The elf had gone.Wildly, she ran across the common room, her panic completely overtaking her, and went after the elf. 

As soon as she was out the common room, the Fat Lady's portrait swung shut, and Ginny found that she _couldn't find_ the elf anywhere. _Oh no. Oh shit no_. Ginny stood in front of the Fat Lady, not knowing what to do. _Where do they do the laundry?_ she thought frantically. _Where the hell do they take the dirty robes?_ Ginny paced up and down in front of the portrait, unable to think straight. She knew where the kitchens were and how to get into them, Hermione had shown her before, but how do you get to the laundry? Ginny's breath came in and out violently, and she continued to pace, wringing her hands and biting her nails. _Damn it!_ She thought.

"Whatever is the matter?" asked the Fat Lady. That's it! Maybe the fat lady knows! She turned to the Fat Lady, desperation in her eyes, and asked, "Do you know where the laundry is?"

"Well, actually, I do dear – "

"Where is it?" Ginny cut in.

"Even if I tell you, you won't be able to get in – "

"Tell me how to get in!" Ginny said urgently, her voice rising.

"Calm down. It's behind the suit of armor on the second floor, on the way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, but dear – "

Ginny had turned around and bolted away, but she heard the Fat Lady say behind her,

"You need a password to get in!"

Cursing, she hurried back to the Fat Lady and demanded, "what's the password?"

"I don't know dear."

"No…no…no…" Ginny moaned. She had sunk down to her knees and buried her face in her hands.

"It can't be that bad dear," the Fat Lady said soothingly.

"No, you don't understand!" Ginny wailed. The Fat Lady didn't know how to respond to this. Finally, Ginny got up and muttered, "Scangy cur!" and the portrait swung open. Ginny climbed in, feeling utterly miserable. _Now what am I gonna do?_ She thought, brushing tears from her eyes. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why did I have to write that letter? What if someone sees it?_ Ginny made her way to one of the couches and sat down, thinking whether she should get Hermione to help her find the letter. The sound of footsteps nearby alerted her, and she impulsively started biting her nails again. _Must be a prefect, probably to tell me to go to bed_. But she couldn't go to bed yet; she had to get the letter back! The frustration of the situation brought more tears behind Ginny's eyes, and she struggled hard to hold her sobs in. Whoever it was coming into the room, she didn't want them to see her blubbering like a baby.

"Ginny!" The sound of her name made her jump. She also recognized whose voice it was, and she cringed. 

"What's wrong?" Slowly she looked up into Harry's brilliant green eyes; eyes full of concern, _for her_.

"I…er…lost something. Something _really_ important," Ginny babbled. Harry's presence and the look he was giving her made her even more nervous, and she had a mad desire to disappear on the spot.

"What is it?" Harry asked more urgently. He made a move towards her, and Ginny quickly replied, "Er…it's nothing."

Trying to be evasive and pretending everything was fine clearly didn't work, as Harry went to sit beside her. That familiar bolt of electricity lingered between them, and it made the hair on the back of Ginny's neck prick up. _So much for Hermione's claim of electricity not working in Hogwarts_, she thought dryly. The sensation made her strangely excited, and very, very nervous.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me. How can I help though?" Harry had sensed that there was something going on.

Ginny looked at him and felt her face flush. Did she hear right, was Harry offering her his help? _The_ Harry Potter? _Somehow_, Ginny thought, _Harry won't be able to help me with this one._ She chuckled inwardly, trying to imagine what she would say to Harry: _"Uh…Harry…I wrote you an embarrassing love letter and now it's gone missing. Do you think you can help me find it?"_That would have to be the worst pick-up line in history. 

She looked over at Harry, seeing the concern in his eyes. If the situation hadn't been so serious she would have been thrilled to be looked at like that. Harry had never, in all the times she'd known him, looked at her as if he cared. Well, except the time when they were both down in the Chamber of Secrets of course, but that had been different. She was in mortal peril at the time, and Ginny was sure that if it had been Colin Creevey down in the chamber, Harry would have looked at him with concern too. This time though, he looked at her as though he genuinely wanted to help. She hastily got up and stammered; "Er…I think I can handle this on my own. Thanks anyway. Sorry I woke you."She ran towards the girls' dormitories before he could answer.

Once she got to the top of the stairs and outside her dorm door, she stopped and hesitated. Before she knew what she was doing, she had climbed another set of stairs and had stopped outside Hermione's dorm. She turned the handle quietly, padded softly towards Hermione's bed, and shook her awake. Hermione squinted her eyes up at her and said groggily, "S'matter Gin?"

"Hermione, help me!" Ginny cried. 

"What…what is it?" Hermione was fully awake now, and she stared at Ginny through the wild tangle of brown curls around her face.

"I need to know how to get into the laundry," Ginny whispered. Hermione looked confused. Ginny quickly told Hermione about the letter in whispers, in case Parvati or Lavender happened to still be awake.

"Calm down, Gin," Hermione said, after Ginny paused to get breath.

"I don't know where the laundry is – but don't worry," she added quickly. "I don't think anyone will see the letter. Only elves go down there – " 

But Ginny interrupted her in a desperate voice.

"Only elves? Ha! I know for a fact that Fred and George occasionally sneak down there to steal girls' knickers and enchant them!"

Hermione snorted, but seeing Ginny's face, stopped.

"What if the letter falls out of the pocket and an elf sees it, or worse, Fred and George…" Ginny trailed off, not wanting to imagine what Fred and George would do with information like that.

"Don't worry Gin," Hermione whispered, touching Ginny's hand reassuringly. "I'm sure it'll still be in the pocket when you get it back." 

Ginny didn't look convinced, and Hermione added, "think about it, if the robes get washed, the letter will be soaked, and if it does fall out of the pocket, who'll be able to read it?"

Ginny stared at Hermione, biting her lip thoughtfully. Hermione was right. There's very little chance that anyone would see the letter if it was in the pocket of her robe. And her robe will just get washed anyway, which means that it will be impossible for _anyone_ to read it, since the ink will be washed off. She sighed.

"Yeah, you're right Hermione. Sorry I woke you."

She seemed to be waking a lot of people for nothing tonight, and Ginny thought that maybe she had better get back to bed, _pronto,_ before she makes a fool of herself anymore. Just as she was about to get up, Hermione said to her in a reassuring tone, "If you like, we can go down to the laundry first thing tomorrow, before breakfast. I'm an early riser." Ginny looked at her. She knew Hermione was just trying to make up for her lack of assistance in the matter, and even if there was pretty much nothing they could do about the letter now, she appreciated it all the same. She bid Hermione goodnight and made her way back to her dorm.

What a day it has been, Ginny thought. But as she swung the door to her dorm open, a grisly sight met her eyes. Tanya and Cissy, who obviously had not slept at all, were standing next to her bed looking at the newspaper clipping of Harry that Ginny had forgotten about when she chased after the elf. They looked up when they heard the door open, and Ginny could tell from the redness of their faces that they had been laughing. As soon as they spotted Ginny, Tanya and Cissy smothered a laugh and went wordlessly back to bed. Ginny swept past them and went to her own bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both their shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Exasperated, Ginny snapped, "Glad I could amuse you girls tonight!" and she violently pulled her bed hangings shut.


	5. Chapter 5

PART 5: DOBBY'S MESSAGE

PART 5: DOBBY'S MESSAGE

She was sitting in the Great Hall with her fellow Gryffindors when she saw a large, tawny brown owl land in front of Draco Malfoy. It had a letter attached to its leg, and from this distance, Ginny thought that there was something eerily familiar about the parchment. Malfoy took the letter from the owl's leg, and it flew off. Ginny watched him read the letter, and his expression changed from curiosity, to glee, then to absolute joy, as if all his birthdays and Christmases had come at once. He howled, read the letter to Crabbe and Goyle (who were too thick to read it themselves), and both his cronies joined him in fits of laughter. 

_ _

_ _

_Malfoy passed the letter to the person next to him. She read it, and she too laughed. Soon the whole Slytherin table were laughing hysterically and pounding their fists on the table. Malfoy spotted Ginny from across the hall and pointed at her. All the Slytherins turned in their seats to look at her. All of them red faced and with tears streaming down their cheeks. _

_ _

_ _

_By now everyone in the Great Hall had started looking around in curiosity. First they looked at the Slytherins, and then looked over at the Gryffindor table at Ginny, whom the Slytherins were pointing at. Ginny quickly stole a glance at Ron, then Hermione, and finally, Harry. Harry looked completely stumped. He looked from Malfoy to Ginny, shrugged, and went back to his toast. Ron made rude gestures at Malfoy, and Hermione rolled her eyes and tut tutted impatiently, and she too, went back to her toast. _

_ _

_ _

_Ginny watched as Malfoy got up from the Slytherin table and walk swiftly to the front of the Hall. Once he got to the middle, he took out his wand, pointed it at his throat and muttered, "Sonorus!" He coughed to get everyone's attention, and his magically magnified voice filled the Great Hall. Its echoes bounced up and down, and around the walls and the ceiling. Hundreds of heads snapped in his direction, and even the professors at their table stopped what they were doing and paid him their attention._

_ _

_ _

_"Ladies and Gentlemen," Malfoy began, hardly able to control his snicker._

_"I have a letter here, that I would like to share with you all." He cleared his throat importantly, and Ginny felt a sense of terrible foreboding, like something really, really bad was going to happen._

_Malfoy began to read the letter_: _"Dear Harry – I don't exactly know how to put in words how I feel about you, but ever since I first saw you, I had wanted you."__ Malfoy paused for dramatic effect. Every head in the Hall turned in Harry's direction, and Harry, who was halfway through munching his toast, suddenly became open-mouthed. A ball of chewed-up toast fell from his mouth and splashed in his pumpkin juice. Ginny felt her stomach drop._

_ _

_ _

_Malfoy proceeded to read the letter line by line, occasionally ad-libbing, adding details here and there which Ginny would never in a million years _ever _say to anyone. The Great Hall rang with screeches of laughter. Chairs scraped on the floor as people moved to get a closer look at Ginny. _

_Malfoy continued__. "I have sexual fantasies of you every night, Harry…"_

Over at the staff table, Ginny saw Flitwick fall off his chair from laughter. McGonagall had taken off her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes, and even Dumbledore was bent over, banging his goblet on the table. 

Fred and George let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, and Ron clapped Ginny on the back in congratulations. Ginny was numb with humiliation and anger. Harry had fainted.

_ _

_ _

_When Ginny looked at Malfoy again, he had had his last word__. "I know I'm just Ron's little sister, but I hope one day I can be more than that."_

_Malfoy looked up with a malevolent glint in his eye and snorted in an amused tone, "Dream on Weasley!"He made his way back to the Slytherin table in a fit of hysterics. The Great Hall rang with applause, whistles and cat- calls, and everyone turned to look at Ginny with tears of mirth in their eyes. Ginny felt her body shake and convulse, like she was having an epileptic fit. __This must be what it's like to die from humiliation. Literally_. _She couldn't breathe, and from far away she heard Hermione's voice say, "Ginny! Ginny!"_

_ _

*

"Ginny! Ginny! Wake up!" Ginny opened her eyes and quickly sat up. She was drenched in sweat and her throat was constricted. She was wheezing and trembling all over. Clutching her chest, she looked up and saw Hermione standing over her. Hermione had Ginny's shoulders in a tight grip.

"Is everything OK Gin? Bad dream?" 

Ginny could hardly reply. She reached out and touched Hermione's hand, so tightly that she saw Hermione wince.

"It was horrible!" Ginny choked, "it was so horrible…"

Hermione gathered Ginny in her arms, and Ginny sobbed quietly in her shoulder. When she looked up again, Hermione whispered, "It's 6.30. I thought I'd wake you and we can go to the laundry together."

"Thanks," Ginny stammered, wiping her eyes, "but how are we gonna get there?"

"I've borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak and his map." Hermione held up a beautiful silvery cloak, and a blank piece of old parchment. Ginny looked at the items in Hermione's hands, bewildered.

"I'll explain later," Hermione said, seeing the look on her face. "C'mon."

Ginny slipped out of bed, put on one of her robes and went out of the dorm with Hermione.

Hermione muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," and tapped the parchment with her wand. Green writing snaked their way around the parchment, and Ginny was amazed to see a map with many secret passageways, right in front of her. There were two dots labelled 'Ginny Weasley' and 'Hermione Granger' on it. Hermione threw the invisibility cloak over them and they disappeared in thin air. 

"This is a map of Hogwarts," Hermione explained. "It'll show us an alternative entrance into the laundry, so we won't have to worry about passwords." She grinned at Ginny.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked Hermione. "What did Harry say?"

"Oh relax Gin. Harry says it's OK for us to use it, but he doesn't know what we're going to do with it," Hermione pointed out. Then she quickly explained the importance of the cloak and the map to Harry, and made Ginny promise not to tell anyone about them. 

Ginny watched the map with amazement, and saw on it the miniature Hermione stop in front of a wall, tap one of the bricks, and a speech bubble appeared next to it, which read, "_Alohomora!_"She watched Hermione next to her, who counted the bricks – ten up, six across – tap it, and say, "_Alohomora!_"The brick revolved around very fast, and part of the wall slowly disintegrated. Ginny and Hermione stepped through, and as she looked back, Ginny saw the wall re-appearing again. Hermione took the cloak off them, wiped the map clear, and shoved both of them in her robe pocket. 

They were standing in an all-white room with giant baskets everywhere, full of clothing. Dozens of elves were busily darting around here and there. Some were putting clothes in a tub full of brightly coloured, foamy water, swishing and swirling the clothes in it with their magic. Others were drying clothes in mid air with an invisible dryer, while others still were folding up the clean ones and putting them in a neat pile in a trolley. Ginny saw that every trolley had a sign on them. The one nearest them read, 'Ravenclaw Girls: First Years'. It was colour coded too. The yellow trolleys contained clothes that looked messy and crumpled. Ginny supposed this must be the dirty pile. The white trolley had clothes that were folded and neatly stacked.

"That must be the clean pile," she said out loud to Hermione. 

Hermione nodded and said in a business-like manner, "You search the white trolley and I'll search the yellow one."

They both walked towards the trolleys marked 'Gryffindor Girls: Fourth Years' and proceeded to search through the pile. The elves around them bowed as they passed and didn't object at all to their presence there.

Ginny dug through the mass of neatly folded black robes, looking at the inside tags, until…the name 'Ginny Weasley' neatly scrawled in green ink shone at her. Frantically, Ginny dipped her hands in its pockets, but found no evidence of any parchment inside.

"There's nothing here!" She called out to Hermione. Feeling a little better, that perhaps the washing process might have destroyed the parchment to a pulp (A/N: I am assuming that parchment gets destroyed by water), Ginny relaxed a little and turned to Hermione.

"Maybe I needn't worry after all," she said with a smile. 

Hermione had just finished her search and she too looked relieved for Ginny. 

"Maybe not," she said, "I didn't find anything either."

Smiling, Hermione threw the cloak over herself and Ginny, and the two made their way up to breakfast.

Breakfast passed by without incident, and the rest of the day turned out to be quiet pleasant. Ginny earned ten points for Gryffindor for perfecting her summoning charm, and she managed not to get picked on by Snape in Potions. During lunchtime, Harry was looking and smiling at her more than was usual (which thrilled Ginny to bits), and they even had a pleasant conversation about Ron's prospects for trying out as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The day went by without much of a hitch, except when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny made their way up to the common room after dinner.

When the portrait of the Fat Lady slid open, a voice coming from the direction of the staircase leading to the boys' dorm beckoned them over.

"Harry! Harry! Come here, there's someone looking for you!" It was Seamus Finnigan. He was slightly out of breath and red-faced, as though he had been running.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Someone's up in our dorm looking for you," explained Seamus. "I already told him you were still down at the Hall, but he wouldn't listen. Said he really wanted to see you."

Seamus turned to go back up to the boys' dorm, beckoning Harry to follow. Before Harry could ask who his visitor was, a small brown thing ran down the stairs so fast, it almost knocked into Seamus as it passed him. When it reached Harry, it slammed into his stomach so hard that all the breath was knocked out of him.

"Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" it squeaked.

"Dobby!" Harry laughed. Ron, Hermione and Ginny all laughed at the elf's enthusiasm.

"What're you doing here Dobby?" asked Harry when he got his breath back.

"I is visiting you, Harry Potter sir!" squeaked Dobby. A few people in the common room were starting to stare at Dobby curiously. Some of them were smiling and exclaiming,

"Isn't he cute?"

"Harry?"

"No, the elf!"

"I has something to give you, Harry Potter sir!" exclaimed Dobby, looking pleased with himself.

" What? Socks? I don't know Dobby. It's not even Christmas yet, and his birthday's already past," quipped Ron. Hermione elbowed him in the rib good-naturedly.

"No sir! Something much, much better!" squealed Dobby in delight. All four of them looked at Dobby expectantly, but the elf didn't seem to want to reveal it in the crowded room.

"Dobby cannot be giving it to you here sir! Maybe…maybe if we goes up to your room sir?" whispered Dobby timidly. His eyes travelled from Ron to Hermione, and then to Ginny, where it widened to the size of saucers.

"Alright," shrugged Harry.

Ginny watched Harry and Dobby make their way up to the boys' dorm.

Ten minutes later, Ron, Hermione and Ginny watched as an ashen-faced Harry descended the stairs from the boys' dorm, with a crumpled piece of parchment in his hand.

"What…?" asked Ron, getting up and walking towards Harry.

Harry handed him the letter and said, "Malfoy!" through gritted teeth.

"What did Malfoy do?" asked Hermione, looking at the parchment curiously, which was now in Ron's hand. Harry looked briefly at Ginny, then explained,

"Dobby found this letter next to Malfoy's dirty robes in the laundry. It looks like the git was trying to frame Ginny…" he trailed off, mainly because Ron was now red-faced and spluttering beside him.

"Frame me?" asked Ginny, herself leaping from the couch. Harry turned to Ginny.

"He…he…" Harry didn't quite know how to put whatever it was into words.

"He wrote a love letter addressed to me, and signed it with your name." Harry's face went scarlet.

Ginny fainted.


	6. Chapter 6

PART 6: CONFRONTATION

A/N: A big "thank you" to all those who reviewed this fic. It really encouraged me!

PART 6: CONFRONTATION

When Ginny regained consciousness she found herself lying on a soft, warm bed, and a female voice from far away was whispering her name. She felt warm and floaty, as if in a dream state. Am I in heaven? She thought. In reflex, her mouth opened to voice her thoughts, but Ginny only heard a hoarse "Mmph." She tried to pry her eyes open, but they felt heavy and lethargic. A hand touched her face, soft and warm like her bed. Then it started slapping her cheek gently.

"Mmph," Ginny voiced, which actually translated to _Where am I?_

The slapping became firmer now, and it stung through her skin and burned her flesh. Her eyes snapped open.

"Ouch!" The word came out of her mouth in a tiny squeak, and she looked up into the worried face of Hermione.

"Wha…what happened?" Ginny said, sitting upright. She looked around the room and found herself in her empty dormitory, lying in her own bed.

"You passed out," whispered Hermione. She had a look of pity in her eyes.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"You don't remember?" replied Hermione. The look in her eyes became more pronounced now, and it was boring into Ginny's. 

In a series of painful flashes, Ginny remembered the look on Harry's face as he descended the stairs: part humiliation, part anger and part…amusement? She wasn't sure, because the only thing she remembered was the blood pounding in her ears, the common room swirling in a haze of colour, and then blackness.

"Oh no!" Ginny cried, burying her face in her hands, "I am such an idiot!"

"No you're not, Gin" said Hermione softly. She was toying the tassles on Ginny's bed, and she seemed eager to say more, but was a bit hesitant.

"How did I get up here?" Ginny asked the right question. 

"Well, when we couldn't bring you around in the common room, Fred and George helped me float you in here because you know, people were starting to crowd around you. Harry and Ron didn't want anyone finding out about the letter." The mention of Harry's name turned Ginny's insides into ice, but the questions she was dying to know slipped out before she had a chance to think about them.

"Where's Harry now? What did he say? Did Fred and George read it? Oh, I just wanna die!" 

Hermione put her hand over hers and did her best to calm her. "Harry's in his dorm right now. He didn't say anything when you fainted, though I think he's angry." Ginny winced.

"He's not angry with you, though," Hermione quickly added, "he still thinks Malfoy had it in for you, for telling him off yesterday."

"And Fred and George?" Ginny asked timidly.

"They didn't see the letter. Harry hid it in his pockets when they rushed to your side after you passed out."

"What about Ron?"

Hermione opened her mouth, and then shut it again. She seemed to be trying to force back a giggle, but tutted disapprovingly instead.

"When you passed out, he ran out of the room, cursing."

"Why?"

"He went to find Malfoy – to…to teach him a lesson." Hermione said calmly, though the corners of her mouth were twitching.

"No!" Panicking, Ginny abruptly got up, but Hermione held her down.

"Gin, stop! It's OK! I don't think Ron'll find him."

"Hermione, why didn't you stop him? Now Malfoy's gonna know about the letter!" Ginny shuddered to think about what would happen if Malfoy got wind of the love letter. It'll be her worst nightmare come true.

"I tried to stop him! But your git of a brother wouldn't listen. Anyway, he's not going to find Malfoy, because no one's supposed to be wandering around after dinner, remember? Filch'll probably just catch Ron and give him detention."

Calming down considerably, Ginny sat back down on her bed, feeling utterly miserable. She tried to imagine what Harry could be doing right now, with the letter in his hands, and the thought made her want to vomit.

"What am I going to do?" she asked Hermione.

"I think you should talk to Harry."

"And confess to the letter? You're asking me to dig my own grave, Hermione!"

"Do you want to mislead Harry? He's seething right now you know, because he thinks it was Malfoy. It's not right Gin, you know that."

"I know," Ginny said dejectedly. Hermione was right of course, but Ginny didn't mind Malfoy taking the blame, especially after all the horrible things he'd done to Ron and Harry.

"But he wasn't meant to see that letter!" Ginny wailed. "I shouldn't've written it. It's all my fault!"How was she going to get out of this one?

"Don't put yourself down, Gin. You can't help who you like."

"But I can help _what_ I write, and I happen to have written the most ridiculous things in that letter." 

Hermione sighed sadly, "What you feel for Harry isn't ridiculous," she said. But then Hermione suddenly smiled, "Then again, I won't deny it," she joked, "sexual fantasies huh?"

Ginny threw a pillow at her, with a look of mock anger. "Don't start, Hermione!" but she too, started laughing. "I wrote that as a form of therapy. What a joke this has turned out to be. I only wrote it to make myself feel better."

"Feel better about what?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that…I feel bad when I see Harry looking so depressed, and there's nothing I can do to help. And well, I'm the last person Harry would talk to, so I wrote the letter to express what I was feeling, even if I'll never be able to say it to him in reality. But I wrote the letter for myself. It was meant to be for my own amusement, not for everybody else's!"

"Well, then, you should really talk to Harry," Hermione repeated. "Then you can explain what _really_ happened."

"What am I going to say? 'Harry, I wrote that letter, not Malfoy. I really wrote it to myself and no one's meant to see it'. Like he'll believe that!"

"I think Harry will understand," Hermione said softly. "It's the only way to clear up this confusion."

"Oh of _course _Harry would understand," Ginny said sarcastically. "I mean, he's known I've had the hots for him, for like, five years."

"Look, Gin, Harry's confused right now. He's confused about a lot of things – Cedric's death, for one. That's why he's been moody lately. He thinks it's all his fault- "

" - that's awful!" Ginny exclaimed, interrupting Hermione. "It's not his fault!"

"Of course _we_ know it's not," Hermione said quickly. "But Harry's been through a lot. And I know you must've felt left out when we were having those discussions by ourselves, but it was because Ron and I were trying to cheer him up – and Harry only seemed to want to talk to us."

Ginny remembered the days at the Burrow when she spied on the three of them talking in hushed tones. She remembered how she felt helpless and left out, and wondered how Hermione knew this. Hermione seemed to have picked up on her thoughts.

"I'm sure Harry wanted to talk to you too, but he doesn't know how. He doesn't even want to talk to your Mom. You know Harry, he keeps things to himself if he can help it. Ron and I had to force him to talk, even to us. Don't take it personally, Gin."

"I don't…I…I understand."

"Well, good, because I think this is a good chance for you and Harry to talk about…" Hermione trailed off.

"Talk about what?" Ginny asked, unsure where this conversation was leading.

"Talk about…you know…" Hermione muttered, "your feelings for each other," she finished quickly.

"Each other?" Ginny asked incredulously. _As if!_ She thought. 

"Talk about _my _feelings, you mean. We're talking about unrequited love here, remember?"Ginny finished glumly.

"Somehow, I don't think so," Hermione said, in an I-know-better tone. Ginny ignored her.

"If I do this, I might as well write a good-bye letter, because this is practically suicide. I just hope it clarifies things up for Harry." Hermione giggled at Ginny's morbid declaration. "I'm not joking, Hermione!"

"And neither am I, Gin! I've seen the way Harry had been looking at you for the past few days, and if you ask me, Cedric and the letter aren't the only things he's confused about right now." Hermione gave a slight smile as she said this.

"Are you telling me Harry might _fancy _me?" Ginny asked disbelievingly, catching on. "Like, maybe if I turned Asian and changed my name to Cho Chang, you mean."

"I'm serious, Ginny. Look, I'm not trying to get your hopes up or anything, that's the last thing I want to do! But I wouldn't encourage you if I knew you'd just be making a fool of yourself."

Ginny eyed her, looking hesitant. _I'd like to see you make a move on Ron, she thought, if you think it's that easy._ _But then again, you've got a much higher chance of succeeding with Ron than I would with Harry_.

"Trust me on this," Hermione said.

Ginny made up her mind before she could think too much about it, otherwise, she would just chicken out.

"Yeah I trust you," Ginny said, sighing. And with that, Ginny got up and made to walk out the door.

"Where're you going?" Hermione called out.

"Where else? I'm going to talk to Harry." The door shut behind her, and Ginny didn't see Hermione's jaw gape open. 

* 

Ginny marched up to the boys' dormitory, psyching herself to talk to Harry. She could hardly believe she was actually going to do this, but as she kept telling herself over and over, the Sorting Hat didn't put her in Gryffindor for nothing. She chanted the self-confidence boosting song her mother taught her long ago, in her head. _If I can, I can, I can!_ Her feet marched in tune to the imaginary music, all the way up to Harry's dorm.

Once she reached the door marked 'Fifth Years' Ginny knocked firmly, but there was no reply.

She opened the door a little and peered through. She couldn't see anyone. 

"Harry?" she called.

A messy-haired, bespectacled face peered out from behind one of the beds.

"Ginny?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Ginny?" a second face appeared from behind her, a carrot-topped, freckled-face, angry-looking Ron. He had just finished climbing the stairs and was about to go into his dorm, when he ran into Ginny.

"Ginny! Are you alright?" Ron had come around to face her, looking concerned. 

"I'm OK Ron, really!" Ginny said, trying to avoid Ron's hugs.

"I need to talk to you, Harry." Ginny surprised even herself with the determination in her voice.

"Er…this is the boys' dorm, you can't talk in here," said Ron.

"Well duh! I was gonna ask Harry to come up to _my_ dormitory to talk," Ginny said sarcastically.

Ron's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Honestly, Ron," Ginny said exasperatedly. She turned to Harry. "Harry, do you mind if we talk outside for a moment?" she asked business-like, ignoring Ron, who had opened his mouth to say something to Harry.

"Sure," Harry said perplexed.

"Bring the letter with you."

"Er…OK."

Ginny and Harry walked out of the room, leaving an agitated and confused-looking Ron alone in the dorm.

*

The common room still had a few people in it. Fred and George were to nowhere to be seen – Ginny took this as a good sign, as she didn't think their presence would encourage her much.

Ginny led the way into the farthest corner of the room, half-hidden by shadows and where they wouldn't be disturbed. She sat down on one of the chairs and waited for Harry to follow suit. He sat down opposite her, and when Ginny was sure that he was conducive to hearing anything shocking (the way he was looking at her right now showed he was _very_ curious), she took a deep breath and began.

"Before I say anything Harry, you'll have to give me the letter. If I can have it, please?"

Harry handed her the letter. Ginny took one moment to look at it, get out her wand, utter a spell, and burned it to a crisp. Harry looked flabbergasted.

"There. Now that's over and done with!" Ginny said, satisfied at last that the letter was destroyed. She braced herself for what she would have to do next. She took a deep breath.

"Harry, about the letter…" She trailed off. _Oh no_, Ginny thought. This was a lot harder than she had expected. She had been so confident a minute ago, ready to tell him the truth, but now it seems that her mind has gone blank. The way Harry was looking at her, and the fact that they were partly isolated from everybody else in the common room, suddenly made Ginny very nervous. Her heart was beating so violently behind her chest that Ginny was sure Harry could hear it. Her throat constricted, and she tried to force the words she had to say out of her mouth.

"Harry, the letter was – "

" – Ginny I'm sorry." Harry put his hand on top of Ginny's, with a pained look on his face.

"Sorry?" Now it was Ginny's turn to be flabbergasted. What on earth was Harry apologizing for?

"It was my fault. Malfoy went after you because you stuck up for me. I'm sorry he hurt you."

"Oh Harry, Malfoy didn't – "

" – when Dobby gave me the letter, I thought it was all a joke, but he looked serious. Then I thought of Malfoy and what happened last night in the Great Hall. It made me so mad to think that he could do something like that…" Harry's voice broke, and a strange look came over his eyes. Ginny didn't know what to think.

"Well…I… I'm OK now, Harry," she stammered.

Harry's grip on her hand tightened, and Ginny's stomach did little flip-flops. Harry was looking at her in _that_ way again, the type of stare that generated electricity. Ginny, mesmerised, couldn't tear her eyes away. She saw Harry swallow.

"Ginny…there's something you need to know."

Harry's voice sounded strangely high-pitched, and even though it was quite dark in the common room, Ginny was sure she saw Harry blush.

"What is it?" Ginny asked. Was Harry going to say what she had always dreamed he would say to her?

"It's…it's…"

"Yes?" Ginny's heart did a drum-roll behind her chest. _Say it, Harry. Tell me you care for me, too._

"…It's about Ron," Harry finished quickly. His eyes darted sideways, then he stared at the ground, looking extremely uncomfortable. Ginny saw him bite his lip.

"_Ron?_" Now she was confused.

As if on cue, Ron descended the stairs from the boys' dorm, marched straight to Harry and Ginny, and said in an impatient voice, 

"Sorry to interrupt your little chat, but Ginny, I _need_ to talk to Harry!"

"Ron!" Why did Ron have to ruin a moment like this? It was almost perfect. Almost.

"What is it?" Harry let go of Ginny's hand and turned around to face Ron. For the first time since she saw him up in the boys' dorms, Ginny noticed the bruise on Ron's cheek, and a nasty cut above his lip. She had been so determined to talk to Harry that she had completely overlooked it. Ron spoke in a rush:

"I found Malfoy sneaking out of the Slytherin common room and confronted him about the letter, and you know what the git did? He denied it!"

"WHAT?!" Harry and Ginny cried together.

The end…Of Ginny's POV. To be continued in Key to My Heart…Harry's POV

_ _


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